Tuesday, October 7, 2014

An Enemy by any other Name - Annika Hernroth-Rothstein



by Annika Hernroth-Rothstein


"We enter parliament in order to supply ourselves, in the arsenal of ‎democracy, with its own weapons. If democracy is so stupid as to give us ‎free tickets and salaries for this bear's work, that is its affair. We do not ‎come as friends, nor even as neutrals. We come as enemies. As the wolf ‎bursts into the flock, so we come."‎- Joseph Goebbels


A few weeks ago, my country, Sweden, elected a new government. Well, not so ‎much a new government, but a return to a past I had hoped was long ‎forgotten. Chances are you would not have heard of this electoral upheaval ‎had it not been for the newly elected government choosing its first political ‎overture to be one involving foreign policy. Many have expressed shock and ‎confusion over the fact that Sweden's new center-left government has ‎decided to recognize the state of Palestine, thus making it the first major ‎European country to do so. But those of us who are familiar with Sweden's political ‎landscape know that this move has been a long time coming. ‎

The now-ruling Social Democrats are a party with a long history of pro-Palestinian and ‎anti-Israeli sentiments and a seemingly never-ending flexibility toward anti-‎Semitic attitudes within the flock: from former Prime Minister Olof Palme's ‎close friendship with Yasser Arafat and his comparisons between Nazi ‎Germany and Israel to the infamous Malmo Mayor Ilmar Reepalu's anti-‎Zionist policies. And now, most recently, the popular politician Adrian Kaba ‎publicly claiming that the Mossad trained Islamic State fighters to kill Muslims and that the Islamic State group is a pawn in a Jewish-European right-wing conspiracy.‎

One might think that such outlandish statements would cause national ‎outrage, but they don't. And it would be a mistake to assume that spreading ‎anti-Semitic myths would lead to Kaba leaving the Social Democratic ‎party in disgrace. Instead, Kaba is ‎heading up the Malmo task force against anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. That's not a typo. Such is the political environment of the country I currently ‎call home. ‎

As a proud, public and outspoken Swedish Jew, I am often asked if I worry ‎about getting attacked on the street for wearing my Magen David or having ‎my home vandalized for flying a large Israeli flag. My answer is always the ‎same: As much as I fear violent anti-Semitic individuals, I fear far more the systemic anti-Semitism eating its way into our political ‎system. ‎

The Swedish decision to recognize the state of Palestine may seem like a ‎thoughtless stunt from a land of little consequence, but it speaks to a larger ‎trend with grave consequences for us all. As the anti-Semitism of yesterday ‎dresses up as the anti-Zionism of tomorrow, the latter gains political ‎momentum to do what the former never could. The coalition of Social ‎Democrats, Greens and the Left Party was elected not in spite of ‎these policies but because of them. They are now not attempting a coup but ‎merely fulfilling a promise. ‎

One of the newly appointed ministers in the new coalition government is ‎Mehmet Kaplan of the Green Party. Kaplan is no longer ‎allowed entry into Israel after his active and repeated involvement in the Ship to ‎Gaza organization. Kaplan has compared Swedish Muslims going overseas to fight a ‎global jihad with the Swedish freedom fighters in the 1939-1940 ‎Finnish Winter War against the Soviet Union, and he is often a prominent speaker at anti-Israel rallies ‎across the country. During one of these rallies, Kaplan said his dream ‎was to one day see Jerusalem "liberated." This former head of the Swedish ‎Muslim council and current member of the Free Gaza movement has now ‎been appointed housing and development minister, and is thus one of the most powerful people in Sweden. ‎

And this is what keeps me up at night: If I get attacked for wearing my Magen ‎David, I turn to the police, relying on the law and the powers that be to right the wrong that was done to me. But what to I do when my attacker holds one of the highest offices in the land? Who will protect me when ‎I am no longer considered the victim but the criminal -- just for being me? ‎

In 1933, Germans cast their votes for death and ruin, but they did so claiming ‎ignorance of what was yet to come. Those who are now putting hatred in ‎power all over Europe do so against the backdrop of the Holocaust. As the last ‎witnesses draw breath, history is allowed to repeat itself by ballot and ‎popular vote. ‎

However expected, this latest turn in Swedish foreign policy is chilling in ‎its calm deliberation. This, after all, is how it starts and how it ends -- not by committing illegal acts toward us, but by making us illegal, and by going ‎after the home we flee to once we have no place left to go. ‎

In 2014, Swedes cast their votes for hate and ruin. And as the wolf bursts into ‎the flock, so they have come. ‎


Annika Hernroth-Rothstein is a political adviser, activist and writer on the Middle East, religious affairs and global anti-Semitism.

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=10179

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.

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